imprest 
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62 
mightily of the tender nourishment which they 
need from both soil and atmosphere, but does 
little else than afford them sufficient protection 
from the scorching rays of the sun. Even as a 
mere shade to fallow-land, buckwheat can per- 
form important service. A fallow has frequently 
been ascertained to suffer sensible deterioration 
from naked exposure to the summer sun ; and, 
when well managed, under the most improved 
husbandry, it receives the benefit of some kind 
of shade. A covering with boards, slates, or tiles 
preserves its humid wealth ; and, when this can- 
not be obtained, some kind of crop is raised which 
will not rob the wheat,—and, in particular, yel- 
low clover, folded off by sheep before wheat seed- 
time, has been found decidedly advantageous. 
But buckwheat, whether to be ploughed down as 
a dressing for the wheat, or intended as a grain- 
crop for harvesting in October, is both so exceed- 
ingly rapid in growth, and so extremely succu- 
lent in habit, as to be particularly suitable as a 
shade; and it would, at the same time, be in 
itself a supernumerary crop, on good, clean, light, 
land, between winter tares and winter wheat. 
Arthur Young, in his ‘Survey of Suffolk,’ men- 
tions this as a successful and strongly recom- 
mended practice ; and Mr. Rham, in the ‘ Penny 
Cyclopeedia,’ observes, “ By this means, the root- 
weeds which had been smothered by the tares, 
and ploughed up immediately after the tares 
were off, will not have time to spring up again ; 
the rapid growth and the shade of the buckwheat 
effectually keep them down, and prevent the an- 
nual weeds from going to seed ; thus, a crop is 
obtained between the tares and the wheat, and 
the land is kept perfectly clean.” Another im- 
portant purpose which buckwheat may serve in 
a rotation, particularly as a preparation for the 
first crop of turnips, is to be ploughed into the 
ground as manure ; but this will be more appro- 
_priately noticed in a subsequent paragraph. 
When buckwheat immediately precedes a grain 
crop, and is itself harvested as a grain crop, the 
stubble of it ought, with all possible despatch, to 
be ploughed in ; for, in consequence of the length 
of time during which the grain remains on the 
ground to dry, a considerable quantity of it is 
shed; and if this were left unmolested till the 
sowing of wheat or other grain, it would spring 
up in the capacity of a rank and mischievous 
weed. But when a ploughing is given immedi- 
ately after the removal of the crop, all the buck- 
wheat seedlings are in a few days above the 
ground; and when the manure is spread, and a 
second ploughing is given, all these seedlings and 
all other young growths are destroyed, leaving 
the land quite clean for the reception of the 
wheat. 
Land intended for buckwheat is generally a 
foul stubble, and ought, as soon as the business 
of wheat-sowing is completed, and before the 
commencement of severe frost, to receive a good 
ploughing ; and, in order that it may be mellow- 
BUCKWHEAT. 
ed by frost and snow, it should lie in the rough 
ploughed state throughout the winter. But 
every precaution must be used to prevent stag- 
nation of surface-water; and, in particular, care 
should be taken to make clean and deep furrows 
between the ridges, and, where necessary, cross 
furrows, with proper judgment, according to the 
situation of the land. When the important and 
busy work of spring sowing is completed, this 
land ought to be very thoroughly worked and 
cleaned, its weeds and rubbish freed from all ad- 
hering soil, and either burnt in heaps or carried 
off the field, and its soil reduced to a condition 
of fine porosity and powder. Both the fact that 
buckwheat is a cleaning crop, and the fact that 
its root strikes only about two inches into the soil 
and yet so spreads its fibres as to fill a circle of 
five or six inches in diameter, require that the 
land for growing it should be subject to the most 
searching preparation, and worked into a state of 
the highest tilth. 
Buckwheat, when intended for seed, is some- 
times sown so early as the end of April, and, 
when intended for ploughing in as manure, so 
early as the end of May; but it ought never, in 
this country, to be sown for the former of these ob- 
jects earlier than the beginning of June, or for the 
latter, earlier than the beginning of July. When 
sown before the middle of May, it is liable to be 
wholly destroyed by frost in one night; when so 
sown as to bloom before midsummer, its flowers 
are liable to be extensively blighted ; and when 
intended for green fodder, it ought, in common 
sense economy, to be sown so late as to come into 
bloom in a scorching and withering July, when 
the prime of the grass is gone, the vigour of ve- 
getation is spent, and the pastureg are exsiccated 
and embrowned by heat. The seed should be 
sown when it may have the advantage of a gentle 
shower ; and it will appear above ground in six 
or seven days. The quantity of seed proper for 
an acre is strongly modified by circumstances, 
and varies from eight to fourteen pecks. Ifthe 
land have sufficient moisture to induce a rapid 
vegetation, from eight to ten pecks are enough ; 
but if it be very dry, fourteen pecks, or even a 
greater quantity, may be required to allow for 
one proportion which the aridity will prevent 
from ever vegetating, and for another which will 
be greedily devoured by pigeons, crows, phea- 
sants, and other birds. “In the year 1795, which 
was uncommonly dry,” says Dr. Hunter, “ I sowed 
four bushels per acre, and had reason to applaud 
myself for this seeming prodigality.” The seed 
is sown broadcast; and, except for pulling out 
all large weeds, and afterwards frightening away 
birds from the ripening seeds, the crop requires 
no care till the time of ploughing in or harvest- 
ing. 
Some interesting experiments have been made 
by agricultural chemists upon the growth of 
buckwheat, illustrative not only of the economy 
of its own growth, but of some of the most im- 
[ieee — = eee 
